hall south of the rhein-main congress center.
while i am not the biggest fan of christmas season, i do love when the city gets decorated with lights and illuminations. i at least make it a point to have an evening walk every season to marvel at them! there's just something so cozy about the illuminations, something that makes this super stressful time a little bit better. and wiesbaden's splendor is definitely brightened by the decorations as well!
in front of the congress center stands this wonderful diana sculpture, it's once been part of the old center, which was built in 1956, torn down in 2014. the statue was designed by wilhelm knapp in 1959.
a very straight-forward building is this annex to the hessian ministry of finances. its monolithic form is broken up with a big window-like opening, giving insight into a courtyard situation. below, there is a car park, but in the upper levels they installed several offices and even an event hall. i fell in love the first time with it when it was opened in 2016 ( architect: harald mathes ), back then the dark muschelkalk cladding lured me in. a few years forward i am smitten with the window opening and i do love the vertical light outlets on the ground floor.
the little tree in the courtyard was sparkling a little bit to honour the season!
inside the courtyard of the original building of the ministry. that building was erected in 1960 and is also a fine example of mid-century modern architecture! the offices are basically built on a stalk structure and are encircling a wonderful little courtyard.
the decorated tree gave the modern setting a homely atmosphere.
in front of the dorint hotel ( situated not far from where i live ) i discovered these gorgeous lily blossoms. i think it was their first time on display, i have never seen them prior to that. last year, in 2020, they were put up as well. i think they fit well into the clean and modern setting of the hotel, which was originally built in 1954 as a US air force hotel ( john f. kennedy even stayed here in 1963, which i didn't know, wow ). in 2001 it was modernized and since then presents itself in a more contemporary appearance.
they surely are a very exceptional chrismas decoration. wiesbaden's coat of arms has lilies in it and my guess is that this inspired the hotel owners to put these up as a nod to that. though these are definitely water lilies, and not actual lilies 😅 i actually also like the concrete columns in the back that are part of a fountain.
view into the direction of the interior ministry - the building from 1964 is actually very interesting itself, definitely a modern masterpiece.
towards the ballroom of the hotel. i just loved the scenery so much that i probably have taken too many photos of it 😂
discovering random structures is why i actually love going for walks! this concrete fence lights up my brutalism-loving heart 😍 especially because nature is reclaiming it!
a little pizzeria called tuttifrutti! i have always wanted to check it out and dine here, but in the 11 years i've lived here i haven't managed it at all! i think culinary-wise i've been missing out on MANY wiesbaden venues, most importantly because i feel strange going out to dine by myself. and going with friends is also a very rare thing to happen, even more so now during the pandemic. and the fact that i am rather antisocial is probably also a big reason why i haven't been to more food-related places. some people love to mingle with humans and thrive on interactions, whereas i thrive more when i am by myself. too much comparing going on with people around me, which in turn always makes me end up being super mean to myself because i feel inferior to them 😂 siiiiigh, the self is a complicated thing.
anyway i love how this place sits right amongst some very beautiful wilhelminian architecture!
while it got darker and darker i delighted on all the appearing illuminations. this particular building is one from 1899, the architect was julius brahm. it has a baroque and renaissance note to it, but of course is not a child of those eras. the 19th century was very well known for historism, which was heavily inspired by the architecture of preceding eras. historism often synergizes all kinds of styles, making the architecture exceptionally rich in details! wiesbaden is full of these buildings, it has a remarkably high concentration, and some of the reasons for that are that wiesbaden grew exponentially after 1800, when it was discovered by the european elite as a spa city, which spurred a construction boom par excellence. and also because wiesbaden was not being as heavily bombarded as other cities in this area, like mainz and frankfurt. that's why basically the americans decided to put up camp in this city after world war 2, they could use most remaining structures without having to invest in rebuilding too much. wiesbaden was just perfect for them on an adminstrational level! today, the americans still have a base here and continue to add to the city's infrastructure and lifestyle.
why do i mention this? because this particular building was one of the headquarters after the big war. it was also an office for the gestapo during the time of nationalsocialism, which makes it a house with dark history as well.
not far away from the villa - the ever-charming aareal bank building, wilhelm wichtendahl's and alexander von branca's masterpiece of mid-century adminstrational architecture. it was built between 1953 and 1955.
loved its unobtrusive lighting:
on the bowling green, right next to the kurhaus colonnades ( situated left and right ) and the kurhaus ( not visible) . in the back you can see the luxurious nassauer hof hotel on wilhelmstraße. this is one of wiesbaden's best adresses, definitely a must for anyone visiting the city.
adoring this art nouveau lamp 😍
better picture of the bowling green with both colonnades on each side.
i have taken photos of the kurhaus from the outside countless of times, so in this entry i have not included an image of it. rather, i present to you images from within the spa hotel during christmas season. i can't remember that i ever went inside the building during that time, so i was surprised to find it decked out beautifully. in the center of the foyer, a big conical stylized christmas tree was the main eye-catcher!
the spa hotel is THE landmark in wiesbaden, it houses a casino, several venues for concerts and events and a restaurant. it is absolutely gorgeous, and it shows the wealth and abundance of the city.
under the dome of the foyer. it's always quite a sight, the interior of the kurhaus. greek and roman god statues and mosaics are integral elements of the structure!
looking up!
the kurhaus's rear side.
i continued my way quickly and ended up on 'schöne aussicht' - a street on a hill overlooking the city core. a lot of very luxurious villas are located here, this being one of them! not too long ago i introduced it to you in this post. it is incredible what the change of time can do to the appearance of buildings, and often times i tend to find the transformation in the evening a lot more charming than what it looks like during the day. well, add christmas season to that and you suddenly have diamond at your hands.
the decorations were so beautiful and elegant! i love when christmas decorations are kept rather simple and not excessive. less is more!
a modern version entry situation right next door!
utterly splendid glass window i found on a villa from 1895 ( also mentioned that one in the post i just linked! ).
eventually i returned to the city core and descended the hill again. isn't this a rather nice view, even with the crane in the picture? it shows the junction of wilhelmstraße and taunusstraße, with the marktkirche at the left side of the image & the ferris wheel on mauritiusplatz in the middle. this ferris wheel always gets put up during christmas season and around it is a small christmas market that i love to visit every once in a while because you can eat very good there and drink a fantastic mulled wine. it's often not too overrun ( the main christmas market on schlossplatz is the location for that 😂 ), so it's perfect for my misanthropist ass!
the ferris wheel right next to the parking deck of the karstadt mall.
i accidentally discovered this blue man throwing shadows as i decided to leave the schöne aussicht. after a bit of pondering, i felt like the style of it was something i'd seen before. i don't know it for sure, but i do think it is a sculpture by wolf spemann, and i think i found this sculpture close to where his atelier actually is! wolf spemann has a very distinctive style and i love his work!
perfect little entrance stars ⭐
there are so many good door situations all over wiesbaden, one could easily start a photo series! i don't remember where i stumbled upon this one.
quirky - a lamp tree!
it eventually started to rain, but it made the snugness of the city by night even more enchanting. the plenary hall of the hessian parliament is an interesting building in the middle of the old city, right next to the city palace. it was built between 2005 and 2008 by waechter + waechter.
on my way back home i had to pass by the sternschnuppenmarkt, the main christmas market in wiesbaden, which is always situated around the plazas surrounding the new ( in the back ) and old city hall ( on the right ), marktkirche and stadtschloss ( hidden behind a canopy on the left ). the lily lusters are so pretty, i never tire of them!
on that day the market was super packed, so quickly i stole myself past it. not without taking two quick photos of the big christmas tree in front of the new city hall, though! that year it was dazzingly beautiful!
decked out in twinkling splendor! i wonder if they open up the christmas market this year and if they do, if it will be in any way different, since last year the whole event didn't happen. one would gather they would try to plan something with a bang. we'll see! i definitely know i will only visit it during the week, on week-ends it is simply too packed for my taste...
slowly we're ending the year 2019, there are maybe one or two entries left that will finally conclude it. just about time, right? it will be kinda strange to start reminiscing about 2020, though, because that year was so completely influenced by the corona virus pandemic. nonetheless, i think i still have a lot of content from 2020 that waits to be released into the open, because even though the virus limited and constrained the freedom to travel more freely, it wasn't that much of a deal for me. i still continued to do day trips and visit places and even had one vacation in eastern germany in the summer, when things were a bit less infectious! the only thing i really missed during the lockdowns was meeting up with friends occasionally and dining out, doing more city walks, going on planned concerts and doing a trip to london that i had planned with a friend in may. but other than that... i didn't abdicate from exploring at all.
but... these stories will be told in time.
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